The mind is like water. When it's turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear.

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

Understanding at the intellectual level is not enough. There must be experience at the actual level.

Every intelligent individual wants to know what makes him tick, and yet is at once fascinated and frustrated by the fact that oneself is the most difficult of all things to know.

The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger.

Forgiveness is not a moral issue. It's a power issue. When we hold onto grievance and resentment, we are giving our power away.

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

The development of wisdom requires both study and practice, both learning and direct experience.

Mindfulness is attention to life, and life itself is sacred.

The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.

Where is the place that your original face has not yet emerged?

Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

Intrinsically all living beings are Buddhas, just as ice and water are of the same substance.

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

The path to liberation is a gradual path of self-discipline, self-development, and self-transformation.

Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

Many people think excitement is happiness... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.

Love is the wish that others be happy, and compassion is the wish that they be free from suffering.

Since all things are empty of inherent existence, anything is possible. If things had inherent existence, nothing would be possible.

Don't try to change the world. First, change yourself.

Just to be alive is enough.

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem.